2 cops suspended over attack on Salem aide

Two constables from the Arthur Road Jail division have been suspended pending inquiry following the scuffle that took place last week in which Mehandi Hassan,a close aide of Abu Salem, was attacked inside the barracks.

Two constables from the Arthur Road Jail division have been suspended pending inquiry following the scuffle that took place last week in which Mehandi Hassan,a close aide of Abu Salem,(46) was attacked inside the barracks. Constables Devanand Sarvade and Namdeo Charaskar are now under enquiry with the probe being handled by the office of Inspector General for Prisons.

Medha Gadgil,principal secretary,home (appeals and security) said,Primarily it is a case of negligence on duty. The two constables were in charge of the undertrials and were accompanying them when the incident took place. The inquiry will establish the sequence of events that led to the scuffle. Besides,the attack was done with a pointed object. The enquiry will look into these aspects as everything happened inside the jail premises and cannot be taken lightly.

The scuffle broke out last week when Mehandi Hassan was being taken to JJ hospital for his routine check up. Two undertrials Pratap Pande and Abhay Shelar from an earlier MCOCA case allegedly attacked Hassan with a pointed object. Hassan sustained injuries on the face and hand and later alleged he suspected the hand of his rival Mustafa Dossa behind the attack. Meanwhile,the N M Joshi Marg police are yet to get a warrant from the MCOCA court to interrogate the two undertrials who allegedly attacked Hassan. The court is expected to hear the plea for warrant on October 5.

The two accused had attacked Hassan in the corridor between circle ten and the canteen. While the probe by the police will essentially look into how the two accused reached the corridor with a pointed object and the motive behind the attack,the IG (Prisons) enquiry will look into the security inside the Arthur Road Jail.

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